


Something Right

by scotcharc



Category: THE9 (Band)
Genre: Athlete Lu Keran, Dance Studio Owner Liu Yuxin, F/F, Fencer Lu Keran, Injured Liu Yuxin, Kexin - Freeform, Lin Fan Matchmaker, Slight mention of K/Roy, Slight mention of Marco/K, Slight mention of Marco/Shawn, Slight mention of Xin/Keni, Slight mention of Xin/Xue, Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, Xinran - Freeform, the9 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 23:22:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29875596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scotcharc/pseuds/scotcharc
Summary: As their gaze met, something in her eyes caught Yuxin's attention. And Yuxin's hers.Something right.
Relationships: An Junxi/Lu Keran, Lin Fan | Marco/Liu Lingzi, Lin Fan | Marco/Lu Keran, Lin Fan | Marco/Peng Xichen | Shawn, Liu Yuxin/Lu Keran
Kudos: 17





	Something Right

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER
> 
> Something Right is a work of fiction. This story is for entertainment only without the writer gaining any profit in any way. Any resemblance to other works, characters, or events, is entirely coincidental. The role or part played by all publicly recognizable people in this narrative is entirely fictional. No copyright infringement is intended.

Keran took off her mask and hang it over her head, panting. Sweats dropped down from her hairline to her face as she tried to wipe them off. She had been training since seven in the morning, and it’s noon now—almost lunchtime. She sat on a bench as she gulped her water.

“Keke, you’re coming?” her partner asked.

“You go ahead. I need to go over my footwork once more.” As her partner nodded and bid goodbye, Keran slouched on her seat, groaning from her sore muscle and sweatiness. She put her mask on the bench and went to the mats to begun her footwork. After fifteen minutes in her footwork, Coach Wang walked toward her.

“Still practicing, I see.”

Keran hummed her answers as she focused on her reflection in the mirror.

“Have you had your lunch?”

“After this, Coach.”

“Well, now you have to come with me. I can’t let you skipping lunch once again. I promised your mom and aunt. Let’s go.”

“I’m twenty-five years old. I think I can manage my lunchtime.”

“Right. But you’re still coming with me, Keran.”

Keran rolled her eyes and smiled at her coach. After a quick change, they walked out of the club to their favorite cafe. Scott’s is a small café with a brisk five-minute walk. Coach Wang thought the chef was Gordon Ramsay 2.0 when he tasted their Falafel. The café was busy but not crowded. As the hostess seated them near the window overlooking the passersby, she handed the menu. A moment later, a waiter took their orders; bruschetta chicken and linguine with bacon, peaches, and gorgonzola.

“I have good news about the Olympics.” Coach Wang broke the silence as they ate. Keran looked at him while she twirled her pasta with the fork.

“After World Championship victory in 2019, we lead FIE 2019/2020 women’s Épée team season and secured our ticket to the Olympics. Three fencers from the team will be eligible for individual competition automatically.”

“That’s good news, Coach!”

Coach Wang remained silent for a while; he didn’t know how to break the news to his disciple. But he thought it’s best if she heard it from him and not others.

“Indeed, Keran. But… they considering you as a fourth alternate.”

“What?!” Keran’s shout echoed through the small café, earned them surprised looks from other patrons. After mumbled their apologies, coach Wang continued his talk.

“I think it’s better if you hear it from me.”

“My FIE official ranking should have made it clear. I worked really hard for that, Coach. They shouldn’t even _consider_ me as an alternate.”

“I know that. Listen to me, Keran. There’s still time to make them change their mind. Besides, you’re one of the most decorated senior fencers this country has. They wouldn’t do something so blatantly stupid by placing you as an alternate.”

“But you said—”

“I know what I said. I just want you to know. Look, I’ll make some calls just to make sure, as for you, keep practicing and preparing yourself for Tokyo.” Coach Wang assured her, “Now let’s finish our lunch. I’ll drive you home after.”

***

Keran let out a sigh as she entered her house; Coach Wang’s words running in her head as she leaned against her door. He was right though, she can’t be distracted. The Olympics only nine months away, Keran needed to push herself even more. She took a few calming breaths and walked toward the balcony to air-dry her uniform and stored the equipment. After a long comfortable shower, she laid on the sofa in the living room, turning on the TV, and watched some news before she drifted to sleep. Keran woke at quarter to four, changed to her jogging outfit, grabbed her AirPods and phone before locking the door on her way out.

Keran ran until she reached The Bund. Locals and tourists alike roamed the waterfront promenade. The river cruises decorated the Huangpu River as Keran leaned against the railing, enjoying the view. Keran couldn’t help her thoughts from wandering about the conversation in the café earlier. She knew she shouldn’t be bothered by this, it’s not the first time the committee had done this, but it’s still annoyed the hell out of her nonetheless. It wasn’t her first Olympic since she made her Olympic debut in 2016 in Rio alongside Yiwen _jie;_ she won bronze in team Épée. But this time, she determined to compete in individual Épée and won gold for China. An incoming message on her phone broke her reverie; it was a message from coach Wang.

_Meet me tomorrow at Yangnan Multi-purpose Sports Facilities, at 8 am sharp. Coach Hugues Orby will be there along with your Olympic teammates._

After she read the message, Keran jogged back to her apartment. She just closed her door when her phone rang.

“Hello…”

“Keke, I need your help!”

“Wha—are you in trouble, Lin Fan?”

“I will if I mess this up!”

“What?”

“Are you home?”

“Yeah…”

“I’ll be there in 10. Wait for me!”

“Lin—”

Keran blinked at her phone. From her tone, Lin Fan was definitely panicking, but Keran wasn’t sure about what. She decided to took a quick shower and waited for her friend to show up at her place. Keran was about to open her fridge when a rapt knock came from her door. She barely opened it when Lin Fan barreled her way inside, carrying lots of things in some bags.

“What’s all these, Lin Fan? You’re acting like a maniac.”

“You need to help me decide!”

“What?”

Lin Fan took out many things from the bags from blazers, blouses, shirts of various colors and designs as she laid them on the sofa. She also pulled out some accessories, a few shoes from the bags and put them beside the stool. Keran, struggling to grasp at her friend’s antic, narrowed her eyebrows in question at the former.

“Well…” Lin Fan’s expectant eyes bored into hers.

“Well, _what_?”

“Help me decide what to wear! I can’t be late for my date _and_ looks awful—” Keran raised her arms to stop Lin Fan’s rambling as she realized what the real problem was.

“Did you just panic-call me…to help you decide on what to wear…for a date?” Keran slowly asked her friend as she squinted her eyes dangerously.

“Of course, what else could it be?” Lin Fan responded like she didn’t just call Keran as if she murdered someone and asked Keran to helped hide the body.

“You. Fucking. Idiot!” Keran hit Lin Fan’s arms as the latter tried to dodge her attack, “I thought there was some _real_ emergency! You sounded like you’re about to get arrested!” Keran kept hitting her friends.

“Ow, ow—stop! Keke—stop! OW! That really hurt, Keke!”

“You are really an idiot, you know that? Having trouble in mix-matching your apparel when you graduated in design.” Keke sighed as she dropped herself among Lin Fan’s clothes.

“ _Advertising_ design and _fashion_ are not the same things. Let me tell you that, Keke.” Lin Fan rubbed her sore arms as she sat on the floor. “I want to look good for Lingzi tonight. This is our first date, and you know how many times I asked her before she agreed. Keke, you have to help me with this! Please! Pleaseee…” Lin Fan was groveling between her legs, and Keran let out a sigh as she pinched her nose bridge.

“Fine,” Keran sighed, “Now, how late are you?”

“Ten minutes. I told Lingzi I need to check on you first because you have diarrhea.”

“Lin Fan, what the fuck?”

“I’m sorry, it was the only thing that came to mind!”

Keran let another sigh escaped her lips. Come to think of it, she already lost count on how many sighs she had today. Finally, she helped Lin Fan matching her clothes with her accessories and shoe. As Keran applied Lin Fan’s makeup, Keran noticed how pale her friend looked.

“Are you nervous or something?”

“No.” Lin Fan gulped.

Keran shrugged it off as she added some blush to Lin Fan’s cheeks for some color. As she brushed her friend’s cheekbones, Lin Fan finally opened up. “What if she didn’t like me, Keke? What if I mess this up?” Lin Fan’s voice came in hushed tones as she revealed her insecurities.

“Hmm, I don’t really know Lingzi that well, but I think she won’t agree to go on a date with you if she didn’t like you in the first place,” Keran replied logically. “Besides, you look super cool and pretty tonight. She’ll have a hard time to say no to you.”

Lin Fan smiled appreciatively at her friend. Keran might look cold on the outside, but she has a gentle soul. That’s why Lin Fan befriended her, she kept Lin Fan grounded, and Keran always managed to calm her down, no matter how trivial it was.

“You really like her, do you?”

“Very much.”

“Well, you’re ready now. Go get her, idiot.” Keran finished her last touch on Lin Fan’s face as she straightened her body.

After Lin Fan put her things back in her bag, Keran walked her to the door. “Good luck on your date with Lingzi. Next time, calm down and don’t act like an idiot.” She teased Lin Fan.

Lin Fan chuckled, “I’ll tell you how it goes later. Thanks, Keke. You’re the best!”

Keran closed the door and made her way to the kitchen. She peeked into her fridge; there were various meal preps that her helper had made for her. She took one out and heat it in the microwave as she sat on the counter.

***

Yuxin waited patiently in the waiting room of a clinic. It’s almost two years since her ACL surgery and one year into her recovery treatment. Unconsciously her hand stroked her left knee, which had surgical scars on it. She still remembered that incident vividly. She was training with _Sifu_ Lin Meng for a stage performance. One part of the choreography required her to jump in the air, spin, and land perfectly. _Sifu_ had warned her not to do that specific piece because of her knee injury, but Yuxin was nothing but a high achiever. She managed to plant her foot, but the momentum continued to spin her body, causing a torsion at her knee.

As she fell onto the studio floor, a loud _pop_ is heard, and intense pain followed. _Sifu_ had to rush her to the hospital immediately. Her parents flew from Guizhou straight to Shanghai when they listened to the news. _Sifu_ went to his friend, a physical therapist who introduced Yuxin and her parents to Bert Mandelbaum, an orthopedic surgeon at the Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute; she was lucky Mandelbaum was in Shanghai for a medical conference at that time. Yuxin was devastated when she learned that her ACL had stretched out and had stopped functioning.

Mandelbaum suggested a two-part surgery to repair her knee: first, a bone graft because the bone in her knee had deteriorated from her previous surgeries; months later, surgery to get a new ACL. It wasn’t her first rodeo in ACL surgery, but this was the most worrisome as Yuxin had been told many times that it would be the end of her dancing career if it happened again.

Mandelbaum prescribed warmups, stretching, strengthening, plyometrics, agility program, and Feldenkrais classes with a teacher specialized in injured knees to be included in her routine throughout the physiotherapy sessions. He predicted that Yuxin can get back to full dancing in due course of one-two years, depending upon her dedication to the rehabilitation process.

And here she was, in her rehab class.

“Liu Yuxin, Zhang _Laoshi_ is ready to see you.”

Yuxin entered a mint green room and spotted a middle-aged man inside. He was washing his hands in the sink. Zhang _Laoshi_ was the therapist recommended by the hospital where Yuxin had her surgery. This man was the fourth person after her parents and _Sifu_ Lin Meng, who had seen her cry.

“Good day, _Laoshi_.”

“Ah, Yuxin. How’s your day so far?”

“Good, as usual.

“Alright, let’s continue our session yesterday and see how’s your knee going.”

***

Xu Jiaqi finished tidying up the dance studio when Yuxin walked in, “Oh! Yuxin, you’re early. How was your session?”

“Zhang _Laoshi_ said my progress is very promising.”

“I’m glad! You’ll be back to the stage before you know it!” Before Yuxin could respond, a tall woman appeared from the studio restroom.

“Oh, Liu _Laoshi_! I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Eh, Lin Fan?”

“You never write, you never call—actually, you really didn’t pick up my call.” Lin Fan teased Yuxin as they shared a handshake.

Yuxin checked her phone, and just like she guessed, the battery run out, “I’m sorry, Lin Fan, my phone died.”

“Don’t worry, I actually came here to talk to you about something, Liu _Laoshi_.”

“Well then, since you guys have something to talk about, I’m just gonna head out now. See you tomorrow, Yuxin. Bye!” After bid her goodbye to Yuxin and Lin Fan, Jiaqi walked out of the studio.

“What do you want to talk about, Lin Fan?”

“It’s job-related, Yuxin.”

“We can talk upstairs. Let’s go.”

Yuxin guided Lin Fan upstairs to her studio apartment. As she invited her guests to sit, she walked to the kitchenette and turned on the electric teapot.

“Coffee? Tea?”

“No caffeine for me after seven, water just fine.”

Yuxin handed Lin Fan a glass of water and prepared herself a glass of warm milk, “Thanks,” Lin Fan took a sip of her water before she turned to Yuxin.

“Yuxin, I came to give you an offer.”

“What offer?”

“You see, the company that I worked for was selected as one of the platforms for the national teams for the Olympics. But one of our photographers had to take emergency leave for a while, thus making us understaffed for the time being.”

“Okay…congratulations, I guess, but what’s that got to do with me?”

“Thanks. Well, I happened to look through our high school yearbook last night, and I remember that you were the photographer. You were terrific, Yuxin. So, I think I might as well try to offer you this job.”

It has been years since Yuxin picked up her camera. Photography was just one of the extracurricular activities she had been engaged in at school. She was more interested in dance and music, and after graduating, she left it altogether. Yuxin didn’t know if she still had the skill or if she had gotten rusty. Feeling doubt in Yuxin’s eyes, Lin Fan smiled to assure her former upperclassman.

“I remember you were such a renaissance woman in school. Come on, Yuxin! It’s only temporary. Besides, the salary’s not bad.” 

“I’m not sure, Lin Fan. It’s been years.” Yuxin gave her a small smile as she held her glass in her palm.

“Our HR still looking for a temporary replacement, but if you take this offer, you’ll make their job easier.”

Yuxin remained silent as she contemplated this offer, but she was wary that she might not meet the standard that Lin Fan expected from her.

“Jiaqi told me about the English course scam.”

Yuxin grimaced at this. She had been working odd jobs to pay the debt, aside from teaching hip-hop and popping classes in her studio, but she could only do much with her recovery. Kiki helped her teaching ballet and jazz between her busy schedule and even offered to pitch in a few cash, but Yuxin wanted to pay the debt with her own money without borrowing any more. After all, borrowing money was the reason why she owed installments in the first place.

“Not my best moment, I admit.” Yuxin frowned as she finished her milk and put it in the basin, “Kiki should know better than telling you that.” She looked at Lin Fan meaningfully.

“I think she only has your best interests at heart.”

“Lin Fan, you don’t have to do me any favor.”

“I’m not. If anything, it’s you who’ll do me a favor. Think of this as a perfect offer—anyway, just like I told you, the salary’s pretty good.”

After a few minutes that Lin Fan spent watching Yuxin’s response, the latter finally looked up, “Can I think about it overnight?”

“You bet.” Lin Fan grinned as she rose from her seat, placing her glass in the basin, and patted Yuxin’s shoulder. “Give me a call.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Atta girl.”

“Lin Fan…”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Lin Fan grinned before she closed the door behind her, “Call me Liu _Laoshi._ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Many months ago, this AU came to me, with Lu Keran edits in fencing attire—her fencing scene in Glory is Back—and a video of Liu Yuxin's popping class during QCYN2 days—I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. Then, I wonder what would happen if FFC-ACrush/FanxyRed and QCYN2 never happened—and this story was born! I really like the concept of Athlete!Keran and StudioOwner/Injured!Yuxin since I get to explore the possibilities of it.
> 
> If you recognize some characters in this story, it because I use real people—it helps with how I write the plot since I like to add accurate/real situations now and then.
> 
> This story will be updated every 6th of every month (6 is my lucky number).
> 
> This song is not the inspiration of this AU, but I picture it as the story's BGM, just like how it works in every movie's soundtracks. It's But U by NINEONE# — kindly check it out.


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